So my report is due this morning, and here it is:
Wow. What a difference. The suspect razor that I mentioned, a Geneva 6/8 that I got from eBay on Saturday, gave me a fantastic shave. It's my best shave yet by far. Makes me very, very sorry that I'm selling this razor to a newbie. I think he'll like it, though.
I just did about 20 laps on my 0.5 pasted paddle, using it more like a bench hone than a paddle strop. That seemed to make a big difference.
Since the finest stone I have is the Norton 8K, I think I'm going to experiment with doing a few, maybe five or so, laps on the 1 micron, followed by 10 to 20 laps on the pasted paddle.
Once I get a better feel for the strop, I also think I'll try using it like a paddle again. If it's still giving me problems, maybe I'll just take the handle off. (The handle makes it a little hard to lay the strop flat.) For now I'm happy in my bench-hone world. :D
Thanks a million for the tips.
Josh